Girl of Lost Things
by KeyStrokes
Summary: While her journey back to her own time has not been easy, the last thing Kagome expects to stumble over is Sesshoumaru's son; all too soon she soon finds herself submersed in a bloody adventure surrounding a hungry miko's search for the Shikon no Tama.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1 – Girl of Lost Things

Kagome clutched at her falling grocery bags and cursed the organic food market for supplying customers with paper bags prone to ripping. _Next time: reusable bags need to come with me_.

She wouldn't have noticed him unless her bags had taken that moment to slip just enough to make her stumble in her hasty grab to save all her fresh fruit from bruising on the ground. He was a tiny thing—didn't look old enough to be out on his own.

The distress on his face was quite obvious, so he probably hadn't started out alone. Kagome remembered that when she was little, she'd been prone to getting separated from her mother and wandering off until she wound up in some random neighbourhood, crying until someone took pity on her. The little boy wasn't crying, but he looked close to it.

He was also quite obviously a hanyou. The white hair and the tiny puppy ears—_just like Inuyasha's!_—gave it away plainly enough. But no one was stopping to stare—in fact, no one seemed to even notice him. _Probably a spell of some kind then_. Kagome had noticed that, while she could see demons, everyone else around her saw average, normal people—assuming they saw anything at all. Demons had obviously found a way to blend in with society. Kagome wasn't entirely sure why she could see their true forms when others couldn't—she thought it might have had something to do with her miko powers, or possibly her exposure to the Shikon no Tama—and she didn't really care; there were stranger things after all.

She was tempted to just continue on—nothing good or uncomplicated ever came out of dealings with demons, even tiny ones with cute puppy ears—but Kagome found herself still too soft-hearted to ever leave when someone was in distress. Especially a child. _He doesn't even look like Shippou…_

Kagome frogmarched her groceries over to the boy and set them on the ground while she crouched in front of him. "Are you lost?"

The little hanyou sniffled and rubbed his fists against moist eyes before looking up at her with wide amber eyes and inhaling her scent.

"Aunt Kikyo?"

Kogome's world fell apart for just a moment and she would have been quite happy to let it stay that way while she sat in the middle of the sidewalk except that the little boy was suddenly in her arms and crying earnestly.

A small part of Kagome wanted her to push him away and run as far and as fast as she could. Because the words 'Aunt Kikyo' held too much meaning and too many painful memories. _Aunt…but that would mean he's Sesshoumaru's and Aunt _Kikyo_…so Inuyasha ended up with her after all_.

Kagome gentry pried the boy off of her and gave him a reassuring smile. "Sorry, I'm not Kikyo," _**Kikyo, Kikyo…whoever she is she's not me!**_ "but I'll help you find her…or your parents, if you'd like."

The boy wiped at his face with clawed hands. "B-but you smell…" he took a large inhale and leaned closer, eyes closing in concentration before they snapped open. "You're not her!"

Kagome almost winced; it was like being back in the past all over again. _As if once wasn't enough._

"No, my name is" Kagome paused, trying to remember what date it was. _Have I been sent back from the past yet? _She couldn't remember. She's never been good at keeping track of dates, and if anything she was even worse now. She thought it might be close to when her travels in the past had ended, but not quite there. _Or maybe that was last year…or have they even started?_ She couldn't remember, but on the off chance that the current Inuyasha intended to be waiting for the younger her on the day he sent her back to her own time...Kagome's head hurt. No wonder she'd always been so bad at this stuff.

"Well, I suppose it doesn't really matter who I am, does it? Let's just find your parents okay?"

The hanyou was eyeing her strangely but the reminder of being lost made him crumple again. "I was out with my nanny while father was at a meeting. I stopped to look at some boys playing soccer and when I went to keep walking she was gone…I tried to find my way home but-but…"

"But you got lost? Don't worry; I'm sure we can find your home. Do you know where you live?"

The boy looked up and glared at her. _Definitely Sesshoumaru's_. "Of course I do, I'm not some stupid human you know!"

He immediately clapped a hand over his mouth and glanced down at a slim bracelet he wore. _That's probably what the enchantment is tied to_.

Kagome smiled at him. "Don't worry; I already knew you were a hanyou."

"But…how? Uncle Shippou said—"

Kagome put up a hand to stop him before he could drag anyone else out of the past. He was like her own personal time bomb, one she wanted to diffuse as fast as possible.

"I'm sure your charm still works perfectly; just not on me. But none of the demon charms work on me."

"Oh." He frowned in consternation and Kagome got up and dusted away at some invisible dirt before he could ask any more questions.

"Well then, where do you live?"

He deflated again. "I know the address I just…don't know how to get there from wherever we are."

_He really does look like a whipped puppy with those ears…_ "Don't worry, I know the city really well, I'm sure between the two of us we can get you home."

It wasn't hard—he and the nanny hadn't gotten far before he'd gotten lost, and as far as Kagome could tell, he'd only wandered a few blocks. But, no matter what he claimed, he was still just a little boy, and a few blocks probably seemed like worlds away. But ten blocks was more than Kagome had ever wanted to travel with her cumbersome groceries. The little hanyou offered to help but Kagome had visions of Inuyasha's brand of help and politely declined.

"We'll need your hands free in case something comes out and attacks us."

The boy snorted. "No one would dare attack me—father would kill them."

Kagome had no doubt and just smiled at the obvious pride the boy had for his father. She'd been like that when she was little, although Kagome had no doubt that Sesshoumaru deserved every bit of hero-worshiping his son had for him.

She was surprised that the great and almightily cold Lord Sesshoumaru had unbent enough to have sex with a human but she knew from experience that people could change. _Time changes us in all kinds of ways_.

Kagome had been expecting some kind of a mansion or some hidden forest that she'd never noticed before. Instead it turned out that Sesshoumaru and his son lived in an apartment building. A very nice, very expensive looking one, but still. Communal living seemed so…beneath Sesshoumaru.

"Well, I'm glad we found it. Can you get in from here?"

The boy nodded and then took to looking at her with a frown. "Don't you want to come in…father will reward you for helping me you know."

The pain in the boy's eyes told Kagome that he'd been used to get at his father's generosity before. She smiled and crouched awkwardly with her groceries.

"Nah, not everyone needs a reward for helping out a cutie like you."

He seemed torn between puffing his chest up and taking offence to the 'cutie'. Kagome had to smile.

"Well, it was nice to meet you. Next time, don't lose track of your nanny—and get your dad to teach you about tracking people by scents. I'm sure you'd be good at it."

The boy nodded and then grabbed her sleeve when she went to pull away. "Wait! My name is Kohaku."

Kagome just stared at him, trying very hard not to get lost in memories.

He fidgeted under her gaze. "I am…indebted to you. Should you have any need of assistance…come to me or find any demon in this city and give them the name Lord Kohaku of the West. They will find me so that I can help you."

Kagome smiled down at him. It was obvious that he was very proud of himself—he was probably following some ancient tradition of some kind that his father had told him about.

"And how will you know that it is from me Little Lord—you should be wary of a trap."

He looked startled for a minute before his face scrunched in thought. "You won't give me your name."

It wasn't a question but Kagome shook her head anyway. She didn't want to risk her name getting back to Inuyasha and having the timeline changed or altered somehow…especially since she couldn't for the life of her remember what the date was in relation to her younger self's travels in the past. _Stupid time…always the bane of my existence_.

"Then you will be known to me as the Girl of Lost Things."

Kagome looked down at herself. It was a fitting title, even if he didn't know it, but she took some exception to the 'girl' part. Her body might have been exactly as it was when she was a teenager, but Kagome liked to think that her severe, chin-length hair cut, the business clothes, makeup, and her old looking eyes combined to make her look at least like a young woman.

But arguing with a child about her age—especially a half-demon child—seemed pointless, so Kagome just gave him a small smile and slipped into the throng of people walking past his building. She wouldn't actually call in her favour, but, surprisingly, it was rather nice to have some kind of nebulous connection to her old life again.

Her bags finally gave out on her halfway back to her own home and her fruit tumbled out. Kagome signed and tried to pick-up as much of it as she could. _Then again, some things are better left in the past_.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2 – Stranger Things

Sesshoumaru watched as his son slowly read through a short missive a small koi youkai had handed to Kohaku ten minutes ago. It took all of Sesshoumaru's willpower not to demand an explanation and read the missive himself. It didn't help that Kohaku had been just as puzzled by the missive as his father—until the koi demon had told him that it was from the Girl of Lost Things. Then Sesshoumaru's son had gotten serious and had immediately opened the letter. But, when Sesshoumaru had scented the letter all he could smell was Kikyo. As far as he knew, Inuyasha's mate had never held such a title, nor had she ever had many dealings with his son. Certainly not enough friendly ones to make Kohaku read anything she sent him.

Kohaku finally stopped reading but, instead of getting up to show the letter to Sesshoumaru as he was wont to do with anything he held, he sat in thought.

_Enough of this_.

"Kohaku."

His son winced and looked up at him with mirror eyes. "She says that there are rumours about a miko who's found a way to harness enough spiritual energy to purify demons. What does that mean?"

Sesshoumaru sucked in a breath. Not because the news was new—he had been hearing the same rumour for several weeks—but because someone had sent the warning to his son and not to him. _The impudence._

"A miko was…_is_…a spiritual female who has magical powers. Like your aunt, Kikyo."

Kohaku frowned. "But Aunt Kikyo can't purify demons."

"Not anymore, no. She lost that ability several centuries ago."

"Why? I thought Uncle Inuyasha said that she was never evil just…misguided for a little bit."

Sesshoumaru snorted. As far as he was concerned, Inuyasha was a fool for mating a corpse. And as for misguided…the undead miko had always been _misguided_, it just hadn't affected her powers.

"We believe that it is a mixture of a lack of faith in spiritual powers by those around her, as well as a lack of need and use. She has not needed them for several centuries, and so all that she can summon now is a small flare of warning."

Sesshoumaru watched his son think; Kohaku was quite bright, even for a son of a great demon like himself.

"But…our powers won't do that, will they, even if we never use them?"

"Hnn, it is doubtful, but it has been known to happen to lesser demons. It is why we train, even when there is no sign of a battle."

Kohaku took Sesshoumaru's words in with a nod.

"So what does it mean that there's a miko who can still purify a demon?"

It meant trouble, as far as Sesshoumaru was concerned. Trouble, but not the call for immediate action that several of the other remaining lords of Japan were going on about. _Fools, to become so worked up over a rumour._

"It means that she is either incredibly powerful or that she has a large number of people believing in her. Either way it is no concern of yours; who is the informant?"

Kohaku looked away and hid the letter behind his back. "No one; a friend."

Sesshoumaru inclined one eyebrow; it was unlike his son to defy him like this.

"Kohaku."

The boy winced and gingerly held the note out to Sesshoumaru.

Sesshoumaru took the missive and read it, all the while categorizing every scent it held for him.

_**Hello Little Lord,**_

_**I realize that this is not how you intended your favour to be used, but I have never been very good at following the natural flow of things.**_

_**I am writing to tell you of something I'm sure your father already knows about, but, just in case, I will inform you anyway. Besides, it's never too early to take an active part in the lives of those around you.**_

_**I have been hearing rumours of a miko in the far North who is said to have enough power to purify a demon. At first I put it off—it is unlikely and, even if it were true, mikos have been around for a very long time, one more won't hurt anything—but now there are also rumours that she is using her powers to purify the powerful demons in her area; leaving the weaker demons to be picked off by her helpers. It seems that she is using her powers to hurt any she comes across. While this is not unheard of, it is not what a true miko should do. **_

_**Take this information and use it as you will Little Lord.**_

_**Your friend,**_

_**Girl of Lost Things**_

Sesshoumaru folded the missive and held it out to his son, pulling it back just as Kohaku reached for it. "What does she mean by 'favour'?"

"Oh…that."

Sesshoumaru waited. The letter was…unusual. And the rumour about the miko using her powers to destroy the more powerful demons…that was new. Perhaps action would have to be taken after all.

"Remember that time I got lost when that nanny took me out a couple years ago?"

Of course he did—Kohaku had been quite short winded about his trip. Saying only that he'd gotten lost but had then found his way home. There had been no mention of a woman and Sesshoumaru hadn't bothered to sift through the various scents surrounding his son—he hadn't known he needed to. _Kohaku has never lied before. _Needless to say, Sesshoumaru had been more intent on firing the incompetent nanny he's hired rather than make his son relive being lost in the city somewhere.

"I recall it."

Kohaku nodded and stared at his feet. "Well, she's the one who found me and helped me get home."

"And the favour?"

"Well, I offered to let her come up and wait for you to come home—you would have rewarded her for helping me—but she didn't want to so…I told her that I owed her a favour."

"And her title?"

Kohaku blushed. "It seemed cooler when I was little oaky? It's just…she wouldn't give me her name and she said that there had to be some way for me to know any message that came was from her and not a trap."

_Smart woman, but curious, to not give her name_.

"So I decided to call her the Girl of Lost Things…since she found me."

And, Sesshoumaru realized, she shouldn't have, not with the glamour that his son had worn at the time—it was supposed to keep anyone from seeing the boy at all. "Was she a demon?"

Kohaku shook his head. "No, she smelt like a human. I actually thought she was Aunt Kikyo at first—they smell almost the same…or, I guess they would smell almost the same if Aunt Kikyo were alive."

Sesshoumaru frowned. That was impossibly. Kikyo had no living relations and she couldn't have been reincarnated because she hadn't died—no. _Impossible_.

Impossible for it to have been Inuyasha's young miko. Not only because the girl had failed to return to her own time two weeks ago, when Inuyasha swore the right time was, but because, even if she had managed to sneak by Inuyasha, for her to have met his son several years ago...there was no path his mind could take to make it possible"

_Then again, stranger things have happened_.

Sesshoumaru turned glinting eyes on his son. "I believe it is time we put your tracking skills to the test."


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3 – Painting a Picture of the Past

Kagome hummed to herself as she swirled the blue and purple paint together. It wasn't _quite_ the colour she'd been hopping for…_maybe some yellow?_

A sharp knock on her front door made her squeeze the tube of yellow paint too hard. _Definitely not the right colour anymore_.

Kagome sighed and put her pallet down before wiping her hands on a paint-stained rag. She didn't know what kind of solicitor was knocking on her door, but he was about to get a very nasty talking-to about breaking an artist's concentration.

"Look, I'm sure you're not ignoring the 'no solicitors' sign on purpose, but—oh."

_Definitely _not_ a solicitor_. Kagome tried to shut the door but found a hand in the way. Considering that it was the same claw-tipped hand he'd once tried to kill her with, Kagome gave herself permission to take a wary step back. _I should have known sending that warning would come back to bite me_.

Sesshoumaru stepped into her house, his son following behind him with a confused frown.

"Woman."

Kagome snorted. _Honestly._ "How astute of you Sesshoumaru."

"Hnn. You will explain."

Kagome tried not to roll her eyes, she really did, but it seemed that even having a son hadn't changed Sesshoumaru in the slightest. _Still so high and mighty_. But Kagome didn't really care for bowing and scraping, and the worst he could do was kill her for refusing to answer him. _And wouldn't that be something_.

She leaned around Sesshoumaru's muscled frame—he'd obviously grown a bit since she'd last seen him. _How odd, he'd always seemed like an adult, but he must have been a kid just like we were._ "Hello Kohaku."

The hanyou gave her a wary wave. "Do you know Father?"

Kagome eyed Sesshoumaru, who had his eyes narrowed on her in displeasure, and then turned back to Kohaku with a small shrug. "We were acquainted a long time ago, but I wouldn't say that we know anything about one another. I see your tracking skills have improved."

Kohaku's chest puffed up. "Of course, Father taught me after all!"

Kagome nodded and then motioned the child inside so that she could close the door. She then made her way towards the kitchen, bare feet stepping lightly in front of each other. "Would you like some tea your Lordships?"

Kohaku scampered after her and stood in her kitchen, staring at everything with wide eyes. Kagome supposed that it would be quite different from what he was used to. The house was quite old and the kitchen itself had certainly seen better days. But Kagome had managed to cover-up the general disrepair with colourful paintings and whimsical depictions. It made the kitchen seem more like a child's daydream than a place to eat or cook. Not that Kagome minded; she wasn't one for cooking much anyway.

Sesshoumaru followed his son at a more sedate pace, but Kagome was surprised to note that he had the same wide-eyed expression as his son when he looked at her kitchen.

Kagome set the kettle on the stove and started to set the tea up. She tried to find three mugs that at least looked somewhat matched but she wasn't really successful; she'd lived alone for so long that things like matching sets had lost all meaning. Instead, Kagome found that she tended to collect random mugs and place settings on whimsy.

Sesshoumaru appeared to have gotten over the small wonder of her kitchen and had taken to analyzing her mugs and home with an upturned nose. "You are unemployed."

Kagome looked around her kitchen, trying to see it with his eyes. Old appliances, chipped mugs and splotches of paint everywhere. Plus, she was home in the middle of the day. She could see why he might think that. She shrugged and pulled the kettle off the stove before the piercing whistle could ruin the ears of either inu demon. "Does it matter?"

Sesshoumaru opened his mouth to reply but Kohaku interrupted with a shout. "This looks just like Heiki!"

Kagome turned to see him pointing at a painting of Shippou and frowned. "Heiki?"

Kohaku nodded eagerly. "Uncle Shippou's son."

Kagome dropped the kettle. It hit the tiles and sent scalding water everywhere. Kagome watched with wide eyes from the opposite side of the kitchen. _What-?_

She looked up to see that Sesshoumaru had whisked her out of danger. His arm was still around her waist and he was giving Kohaku a reproachful look the boy didn't seem to understand. _Not that he should, he has no reason to think…Shippou has a _"son?"

Sesshoumaru released her and stepped back. "Indeed."

Kagome fuddled her way over to the table and sat in one of her more comfortable chairs. It squeaked in protest, as it always did, and the familiar sound helped to ground her in the here and now. She took a deep breath. _Does it really matter? It's been so long; things were bound to change. _I've _changed; it makes sense that everyone else has as well._

Kagome looked over at the still steaming kettle. "Sorry, it looks like tea might have to wait."

Sesshoumaru leaned against the wall beside the kitchen table, crossed his arms, and looked at her with unreadable eyes. "We didn't come for tea; you will answer my questions now."

Kagome might have nodded, but her eyes caught on his crossed arms. "You got your arm back?"

Kohaku gasped and scampered over, narrowly avoiding the puddle of boiling water. "You know about that? Do you know how it happened? Uncle Inuyasha won't tell me and neither will Father!"

Sesshoumaru growled and Kohaku immediately looked down. Kagome smiled. Her house had never felt so lively, even if she was still shaking from the revelation about Shippou.

"Oh, I'm sure I could be convinced to remember it sometime. It seems to have slipped my mind at the moment though."

Kohaku rolled his eyes before glancing at his father, who must have been giving him some kind of signal, because he suddenly whirled back to Kagome. "Can I explore?"

Kagome hesitated. She wasn't really worried about him finding anything, but "sure, stay out of the sunroom though; there's wet paint everywhere."

The hanyou nodded and raced off. Kagome wondered if she should have given him more restrictions but was distracted when Sesshoumaru sat down. Now that she was really looking at him, she noticed that he was wearing a modern suit and his mokomoko was nowhere to be found.

"How did you come to be here Miko?"

Kagome gave him her best smile. "Well, it all started when my mom and dad got—"

"Do not play games. Inuyasha waited for you to come through the well two weeks ago—you were not there. While it is quite possible that he misjudged by a few days, a few years seems unlikely."

Kagome frowned at him. "Two weeks ago? Is that really all…what year is it?"

Sesshoumaru frowned at her. "You don't know?"

Kagome glanced over at the calendar the local market had been giving out to all its customers and smiled sheepishly. "Well, I _know_ what year it is, I just…I guess I didn't keep track as well as I thought I did when I was in the past. I could have sworn that I was supposed to come back a few years ago."

Sesshoumaru frowned. "Explain."

Kagome stared down at her hands while they fidgeted with her loose cotton shirt. She picked at a drying patch of blue paint before finally sighing and meeting Sesshoumaru's eyes. "I mean…oh, I don't know. How much do you know about me…about my travels in the past?"

Whatever she'd been expecting, _just enough to know this is weird maybe,_ it wasn't, "Everything."

"Oh." Kagome floundered; hands reaching to a mug of tea that wasn't there and finally settling into her lap to clench in fists. Somehow, the fact that he knew everything seemed…like an intrusion. Kagome had always thought that, if there ever came a time when Inuyasha and Sesshoumaru actually spoke to one another, Inuyasha would only give Sesshoumaru the briefest overview of Kagome's time in the past. Hadn't it always been some kind of a secret—shared just between the members of their small group?

_Does any of that really matter now?_

"Right. Well…I guess it's my own fault really—I was never good a math. Or history, funnily enough."

Sesshoumaru just looked at her and Kagome sighed, ran a hand through her hair and grimaced when her fingers snagged on a dry clump of paint. _Damn stuff gets everywhere_.

"Miko…"

"Right. Sorry. Well, I always told everyone that I was from 500 years in the future—and that's what I thought it was. But, well, it turns out it was more like 600 years really."

Sesshoumaru inclined a single eyebrow. "I fail to see why this matters Miko."

Kagome bit out a sharp laugh and shook her head. _I wish_.

Sesshoumaru frowned at her. "You will explain."

"When Inuyasha made his wish on the Shikon no Tama…the well to my time wasn't working; instead of asking to be a full demon or for Kikyo to have her life back, he wished that I would be sent back to my own time. But the Shikon no Tama has always taken the meaning of the wish from the wisher—and to Inuyasha, I was from 500 years in the future."

Sesshoumaru just stared at her. Kagome sighed and stared at a point just above his shoulder. "I was sent to the wrong time—again. I think I've been here for…eighty-some years now? I lose track sometimes. Especially since I'm not entirely sure what year I actually arrived in—it took me a few years to really find my footing. Being stuck in the feudal era is one thing, being stuck in a more recent past—where they want identification and birth certificates—is another. "

Sesshoumaru was leaning closer and sniffing delicately. "You appear to be the same as when Inuyasha sent you back—it is impossible."

"Oh. That." Kagome strangled the bitter laugh in her throat. "I actually think I stopped ageing sometime during my travels with Inuyasha—this one time I went back to my own time and I just…looked so much younger than my friends—but I'm not sure if it's because of travelling in time or the Shikon no Tama. Maybe something else." Kagome gave a heavy shrug.

Time, it seemed, was never on her side. Humans weren't meant to have such long lives, she'd discovered. Not only was it a pain to reinvent her identity ever ten or fifteen years (there was only so old she could make herself look), but Kagome found that she grew quite bored with life after a while. Marriage was out of the question; who wanted to watch someone they love age and die while she stayed young?

Sesshoumaru stood. "Interesting. And the warning you game my son?"

"Was a warning. I'm on friendly terms with an old shrine keeper a couple blocks away. She has just enough spiritual powers that she could be considered a miko—not that she knows that—and she hears things from the larger community. Sometimes she likes to share."

He gave a sharp nod and then turned towards the front door. Kagome didn't hear him say anything, but he must have, because Kohaku was suddenly waiting by the door. Sesshoumaru turned to give her a brief glance. "We are leaving now."

Kagome bobbed her head and brushed her hair behind her ears. "Okay. It was…interesting to see you again Sesshoumaru. Have a safe trip home." _Please don't visit again_.

Sesshoumaru turned to face her fully, looking at her like she was an idiot. _Nothing new there_. "You will be coming with us Miko."

* * *

><p>AN: Thank-you all for the love-ly reviews, favourites, alert adds, etc., etc. They make posting new chapters exciting.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4 – In for the Kill

Sesshoumaru watched his son carefully. _What is it about this woman that draws hanyou and youkai alike?_ It had been obvious from the first moment that he started on the scent of the miko's trail that Kohaku considered the woman _his_. Sesshoumaru could have told his son that the miko had several prior claims on her, but it was…somewhat entertaining to watch Kohaku try to deal with his instincts. Instincts which were telling the boy that the young miko belonged to him—was his to protect and claim.

It couldn't last forever, not only would it grow tiresome, but Sesshoumaru doubted that either Inuyasha or Shippou would give up their prior claim; his son would not survive a battle for supremacy with either. Especially since Kohaku seemed to have inherited his mother's passive nature.

Sesshoumaru found however, that he may have underestimated his son's instincts towards the miko when Kohaku appeared at the door just as Sesshoumaru intended to leave. It was obvious that, while Kohaku had been exploring the miko's house, he had also been keeping a close ear on the conversation. Sesshoumaru growled. Such a thing suggested that his son did not fully trust him with the woman. Not only was it insulting but it was disrespectful. Sesshoumaru was Alpha and, as such, anyone claimed by a member of his pack belonged to him. Which meant that, even had Kohaku not claimed the miko, Sesshoumaru would have taken care of her because Inuyasha and Shippou were both members of his pack, and their claim on her had been around for hundreds of years. The miko seemed to breed bad manners in the hanyou of his family.

Sesshoumaru eyed his son and growled low enough that the miko wouldn't pick up on it, but loud enough that his son's hanyou hearing would. Kohaku blushed, eyes falling to the floor and shoulders slumping. The miko chose that moment to pipe up.

"No thank-you."

This time Sesshoumaru growled loud enough for the miko to pick-up on. _Of all the aggravating—_

"You will Miko. This…hovel you call a home is not protected."

He wasn't even sure it was structurally sound. The miko puffed up, her face going red while behind him, Kohaku shifted uncertainly. His instincts were probably warring—wanting to protect the miko from his father's anger while at the same time agreeing with his father's assessment.

"My home is _not_ a hovel! It's just…old!" Sesshoumaru waited for a foot stomp but none was forthcoming. _Hnn…perhaps she has matured_. "You're older than my house; you don't see me calling _you_ an old, decrepit demon, do you." _Then again…_

"Miko, you will accompany us. Inuyasha and Shippou will no doubt wish to see you with their own eyes." And they would hound Sesshoumaru if he didn't bring the miko. No doubt his son would also pout for days, or demand a return visit. Sesshoumaru sniffed delicately. He hated the smell of paint.

The woman slouched against the wall and ran a hand through her hair, dislodging flecks of green paint in the process. Sesshoumaru watched the dried paint settle on her over-sized shirt. He seemed to remember her being much…cleaner the last time he'd seen her. Perhaps Inuyasha's bathing habits had transferred after all?

"Don't get me wrong, it's nice to know that they're both alive, but I'd rather just…not…"

Kohaku stepped around him and Sesshoumaru noted with amusement that his son was trying to reproduce his mother's puppy-dog eyes. Apparently those eyes worked on humans just as well as they did on demons because the woman was leaning towards his son with a soft smile. _Malleable_.

"Don't you want to meet Uncle Inuyasha and Uncle Shippou?"

The woman gave a sudden, sharp smile. Sesshoumaru resisted the urge to pull his son back. _Dangerous_.

"I've met them, thanks."

Kohaku looked up at Sesshoumaru with a frown but directed his question to the woman. "You've met them? How…?"

The sharp smile stretched across her face before it disappeared entirely. "I had an adventure with them all…once."

Kohaku was still facing the woman but Sesshoumaru could imagine how big his eyes were getting. Kohaku might have loved hearing stories about his father, and even Inuyasha, but he'd loved nothing more than to hear stories about the girl who travelled through time. Especially if it was his Uncle Shippou telling the story. Sesshoumaru knew the kitsune youkai had a penchant to exaggerate everything he said, but even Sesshoumaru had to wonder if some of the wilder tales he told were true—even a kitsune youkai's mind couldn't be _that_ creative.

"You're Kagome!"

_Now we will never leave_.

She gave a small smile and headed back to her kitchen. "Sometimes."

Kohaku followed after her, shouting out question after question. Sesshoumaru looked longingly towards the door. Perhaps he should have let Kohaku's warning note go. Nothing was going to be worth the aggravation that seemed to follow the woman wherever she went.

Leaving was not, however, and option; so Sesshoumaru chose to examine the options that were available to him. The woman obviously didn't want to leave, but she had to if Sesshoumaru wanted even some semblance of peace. _Not that having her in my home will bring peace of any kind_. Still, it would be easier. So he had to convince her to leave. The enticement of seeing her former companions should have been enough, everything he knew—from the bits he remembered of her and the tales she always seemed to feature in—told him that she should have easily agreed to come. That she hadn't was troubling but could be dealt with at a later time.

Sesshoumaru listened idly as Kohaku moved from asking her questions about her travels to asking her about the paintings in her kitchen. _Smart boy_. It was obvious that the young woman had become…not bitter perhaps, but something close, about her past. But Kohaku's question about her paintings brought vivaciousness to her voice that had been lacking and Sesshoumaru listened in amusement as she overtook the conversation. He was mildly surprised that Kohaku hadn't interrupted with a question—he was too curious to hold his tongue for long—but perhaps he was just basking in the presence of a woman he'd admired since he first understood speech.

Sesshoumaru decided to explore the house while Kohaku kept watch on the woman—perhaps his son could smooth her feelings out if she felt they were alone. Sesshoumaru had to admit that, while the house was certainly falling apart at the seams, it was well cared for, in a way. It looked like she had attempted to paint every available surface, and those she couldn't reach were littered with paintings. Some of them looked like a child had splattered paint along the walls—Sesshoumaru remembered with a grimace the time Kohaku had found Shippou's paints—but some of them were quite professional looking. _Perhaps she is not unemployed after all_.

But, he decided, after exploring the upstairs bathroom and her sparse bedroom, complete with ceiling cracks and loose light switches, she wasn't making nearly enough to keep her house in a useable condition. _This will need to be rectified_.

Sesshoumaru moved to go back to the kitchen but stopped when he saw the flash of magenta in the sunroom. It was a painting, a very detailed one. Not quite finished, but close enough that he could see how the finished product would look. _Interesting_.

In the kitchen Sesshoumaru found Kohaku and Kagome sitting at the table sipping tea. Obviously her attempt to make tea had gone smoothly this time. Sesshoumaru seemed to recall his brother grumbling once, after several bottles of sake, that the miko had been extremely clumsy.

"It is time to go now—you _will_ be coming with us Miko."

Kagome's face closed off and her lips pressed together.

Kohaku jumped up from his seat and ran around to stand beside Kagome's chair. "Don't you want to see Uncle Shippou and Uncle Inuyasha again?"

She opened her mouth but Kohaku carried on blithely. "They really miss you. Uncle Shippou is always talking about you and Uncle Inuyasha has been really worried since you didn't come out of the well like you were supposed to."

"It's not that—"

"Plus, then you can see where I live!"

Sesshoumaru recognized a hunt when he saw one, and his son had already gone for the kill, the miko just didn't know it yet.

"You _do _want to come and see…don't you?"

Sesshoumaru watched as the woman floundered, her hands fluttering uselessly before one fell to her lap and the other rose to sit at the base of her neck. _Where a necklace would sit…this is habit. _

Then her confused eyes turned on him and Sesshoumaru was surprised to see a hint of wry humour on her face. _Perhaps she knew she was prey before the hunt began?_

"I suppose I could come for a _quick_ visit. But I won't stay. I have work to do here and I'm sure I'd get in the way of whatever…demon things you do."

* * *

><p>Aaand a drum-roll for the latest [late] chapter...please! Thanks to all who reviewed the previous chapter(s) and to any who review this one.<p> 


End file.
